The Last Night
by Sand-wolf579
Summary: It's the night before Stanford heads off to his dream school, West Coast Tech. Before leaving though, Ford has to say goodbye to one more person.


Stanford grinned to himself as he shut his final suitcase. Tomorrow was the big day. The day that he was finally heading off to West Coast Tech. His dream school. Stanford had been looking forward to this for months. He could still hardly believe that he had been accepted to the best college in the country. But he had been, and Stanford could hardly contain his excitement...and nervousness.

After all, he was going to college all the way on the other side of the country. Things would be different at West Coast Tech, and Ford couldn't exactly anticipate just what all of the changes that he would have to deal with would be. It was unnerving, and he would be lying to himself if he said that he wasn't at least a little nervous and anxious about it.

So Ford dealt with the nerves the same way that he always did. He put that nervous energy to some good use. For the past few hours Ford had been double and triple checking his luggage, just to be _sure_ that he wasn't forgetting anything. It would be horrible to arrive at the school only to learn that he had forgotten something important.

Finally though, after going through his things multiple times, Ford had to admit that he had everything that he would need. He was ready to go.

...Well, almost.

Ford looked over at his brother's empty bed, then he glanced at the clock that they kept at the desk and frowned. According to the clock it was nearly 2:30 in the morning. Ford sighed and ran his hand through his hair. It was late, and Stanley still wasn't back yet.

It wasn't uncommon for Stanley to stay out for all hours of the night. He usually did it at least once or twice a month. Ford hated when Stan stayed out so late, but he had long since stopped arguing with his brother about it. It had just gotten too exhausting to continuously lecture Stan, only for his words to be ignored. After a while, Ford had come to accept that Stan sneaking out and not returning until the early hours of the morning was a normal thing. In fact, Ford was even able to predict when Stanley would stay out and for how long, depending on his moods.

This, however, was going too far and was downright ridiculous. This was the tenth night in a row that Stanley had stayed out all night. At least! For all Ford knew, it had been even longer than that! Ford only knew for sure that it had been ten days because Stanley was the type of person who only made his bed once every two or three weeks. The last time he done this had been ten days before, and yet the bed was still perfectly made. It didn't look like it had been slept in at all since Stan had made it.

This was probably because Stanley hadn't even touched his bed in that time. Possibly for even longer.

Even though it was normal for Stanley to be out really late, he had never stayed out literally all night before. Whenever Stanley went out, Ford would always wake up the next morning to find his brother fast asleep in his bed. Until now, that is.

Ford was concerned. He knew that Stanley hadn't actually _gone_ anywhere permanently, because he still saw him throughout the day. They didn't exactly interact much anymore, but Ford still saw him, which meant that Stanley was only out during the night. But where was Stanley going? Was he even sleeping at night, and, if so, where? Why had this become such a regular habit?

...Actually, Ford was pretty sure he knew the answer to that last one. Stanley always went out when he was feeling particularly moody or upset, and ever since Ford had been accepted to West Coast Tech Stanley had been becoming increasingly more depressed.

Ford had known that Stanley hadn't exactly been thrilled that he was going to college on the other side of the country, but he hadn't known the extent of his disapproval. After he was accepted to the school, Stan began ignoring and avoiding Ford. At first, this had been very annoying and it irked Ford to no end. However, he didn't make any attempt to force Stan into talking with him. Ford understood that Stanley was upset, but he had hoped that after a few days Stan's hurt would die down a bit and he would stop with the childish behavior.

No such luck. This had been going on for _months,_ and Ford was fed up with. He still didn't try to talk to Stanley about it though, because Ford had still believed that Stanley would eventually get over himself, grow up, and come to him. After all, in his own way, Stanley was smart. He would have to come to the conclusion that no matter how much he ignored him, Ford was still going to go to college, and as upsetting as that may be for Stanley, even he would have to realize that ignoring Ford because he would miss him was just idiotic.

As much as Ford wanted Stanley to realize this on his own, he had to admit that it just wasn't going to happen. Ford was leaving for school in just a few short hours. If Stan was going to make his move, he would have done it already.

Ford sighed. Once again it looked like it would be up to him to fix things. Ford quickly grabbed one of Stanley's old jackets, all of his own were packed, and set off to find his brother. Ford quietly snuck out of the house and headed for the place he was sure he would find Stanley at.

Glass Shard Beach. It was Stanley's favorite place in the world, and Ford knew that he often went there whenever he was feeling down or needed a place to be alone for a bit. If Stanley wasn't there, Ford didn't know where else he would even look.

At first glance it seemed like the beach was empty, which was probably to be expected. After all, Glass Shard Beach wasn't exactly a popular location in the first place, let alone in the middle of the night. Ford was slightly disappointed though when he didn't see his brother at the swings where he usually was, but Ford didn't worry yet. There was another place at the beach that Stan liked to be.

Ford made his way to the old boat that he and Stanley shared. The Stan o'war was sitting on the shore right at the edge of the water. Ford had to assume that it had only pushed to that location recently, because once the tide came in it might just carry the ship out to the ocean. So the ship had only been sitting there for as long as it had been low tide. But why had Stanley bothered moving the boat so close to the water? Was he planning on taking it out onto the ocean?

Ford shook his head. He couldn't think about that stuff now. Trying to figure out just why Stanley did what he did would only serve to distract Ford from what he had come here to do. To talk to Stanley, not to try to figure out how his head worked...that would be a project that Ford would have to save for another day.

Ford stopped when he reached the side of the boat. From here he could clearly see his brother exactly where he had expected to find him, lying on the deck of the boat. Stanley's eyes were closed, but Ford knew that he was still awake. Stan was either faking being asleep, or trying to fall asleep. Either way, Ford didn't think it was a very good idea.

"You know, you shouldn't sleep out here like this. You could catch a cold." Stanford said. Stanley scowled and rolled over so his back was to his brother. Ford frowned. It seemed as if Stanley was being as stubborn as ever. Well, two could play at that game.

Stanford hoisted himself up onto the Stan o'war and sat down on the deck right next to his twin. It was a little difficult to sit comfortably because Stanley had, for whatever reason, brought many supplies and gear onto the already too small boat, which made it even more crowded than usual. By pushing some things to the side though, Ford was able to make enough room to sit down comfortably.

Stan turned his head and glared at Ford. "And who said you were allowed aboard?" He growled.

"I did." Ford shrugged. "This boat is just as much mine as it is yours, Stanley." Stan rolled his eyes in annoyance and turned over again so he was, once again, facing away from his brother. Ford sighed and tilted his head to look up at the dark sky. It seemed that Stanley still didn't want to talk to him, or even be anywhere near him. This stung.

This was really the first time that Stan had ever given Ford 'the silent treatment'. Usually when Stan was really mad at him, he would just yell and, occasionally, punch him, but then quickly get over it. For Stanley to continue to try to ignore him, especially for this long, well, it hurt. Ford was tempted to just give up on trying to talk with Stanley...except that he would never be able to forgive himself if he went off to school without saying goodbye to his brother. His best friend...really, his only friend.

"Stanley, don't be like that." Ford scolded, though his tone was gentler than it usually was. "Can we just talk? Please?"

Stanley was silent for a minute before saying coldly "What's the point in talking about it? You'll just be leaving tomorrow anyways."

"That's true." Ford admitted which caused Stanley to stiffen. "But," Ford emphasized, because he needed Stan to understand what he was about to say. "That doesn't mean that...that I want to lose you." Ford's cheeks went red with embarrassment. He wasn't used to being this sentimental.

Stanley rolled over again and looked at Ford dubiously. "And yet you're going to the other side of the country."

"Well, yes, but I'm not just going to give up my chance to go to my dream school. And even if I weren't going to West Coast Tech, I would still be going to college somewhere." Ford said.

"I know that." Stanley scoffed, as if the idea of Ford _not_ going to some school was an impossible one.

"But just because I'm going to school without you doesn't mean that I want to lose contact with you entirely." Ford said.

"Just partially though, right?" Stan sneered.

"That's not what I meant!" Ford shouted, his frustration building.

"Don't lie to me, Stanford!" Stan bit out angrily as he sat up and glared at Ford fiercely. "It's exactly what you meant, and you know it. This isn't about stupid school, you're just trying to get away from me."

"That's not true." Ford objected. "Why would you even say something like that?"

"Not that I blame you." Stan frowned and stared out to the ocean. His tone of voice suggested that he was angry, but there was a weird look in his eyes, like pain or acceptance. "I mean, why would you would to be anywhere near someone you find so _suffocating?_ "

Ford's breath hitched in his throat. How could Stan have possibly-? Then again, this was Stanley he was talking about. "You-you read my journal?" Ford asked partially in disbelief and partially in anger. "Stanley, a journal is supposed to be a personal thing! You can't just-"

"Diary." Stan cut in irritably. "You call those stupid weirdo stuff notebooks of yours journals, which means that _this_ ," Stanley held up a book that Ford was all too familiar with. "Is a diary."

Ford scowled and snatched his book back from his brother. "I don't care what you decide to call it!" Ford reprimanded angrily. "What could have possibly possessed you to-" Ford took a deep breath and forced himself to stop before he said something that he may regret later. The truth was, his anger wasn't directed at Stanley, it was towards himself.

It was certainly frustrating that Stanley had read his private journal...diary...whatever it was, but not unexpected. Stanley wasn't exactly the most trustworthy person in the world, and reading other people's journals certainly sounded like something that he would do. Ford should have known that Stanley would read his journal, and he never should have written that word. No wonder Stanley had been avoiding him all this time, he probably thought that Ford hated him, which couldn't be further from the truth.

"Stanley, let me explain-" Ford started. Stanley chuckled darkly.

"Yeah? This should be good." Stan muttered. Ford ignored his brother's cynicism. He had to explain what he meant when he wrote that word. Stanley deserved that much.

"Stanley, you don't understand what I meant." Ford said.

"Oh, I don't?" Stan glared at him. "I know what the word suffocating means, Stanford. I'm not an idiot."

"I know you're not." Ford said simply.

"Well, uh," Stanley stammered a bit. He seemed to be slightly thrown off at the matter-of-fact way that Ford had agreed he wasn't an idiot, as if the idea had never crossed his mind before. It took a moment for Stanley to gather his thoughts again. "You wrote that you found me suffocating. That means that you feel overwhelmed and trapped when you're around me." Stanley frowned and looked at Ford questioningly, as if he was suddenly unsure. "Right?"

"Yes." Ford said with a small fond smile. Stanley wasn't entirely right about what he meant behind the word, but he understood the gist of it. Stanley actually understood a lot more than he gave himself credit for, but he always seemed to second guess his answers, and would constantly turn to Ford for confirmation. Ford wished that Stanley would have more confidence in himself. He knew and understood a lot more than he thought he did.

"But it's also more complicated than that." Ford continued.

Stan rolled his eyes and nudged Ford playfully with his elbow. "It always is with you."

Ford chuckled slightly at that. Stan had a point. He did have a tendency to overcomplicate things. "Well, Stanley, when I wrote that you were suffocating, I…" Ford paused and closed his eyes, trying to think of a way to explain this in a way that his twin would understand.

"Stanley, the two of us spend a lot of time together. Neither of us have many friends besides each other." Ford said.

"Yeah, so?" Stan clearly wasn't as bothered by this as Ford was. "What's that got to do with things? You haven't grown sick of me, have you?"

"Of course not." Ford frowned. "But don't you think we're too close to each other? That we rely on each other too much?"

"Not really." Stan commented casually. He looked at Ford curiously. "Do you feel that way?"

Ford smiled sadly. "All the time. Don't get me wrong, Stanley, I do enjoy being around you."

"...But?" Stan urged.

Ford sighed. "But I do think it would be best if we had some time apart from each other. All our lives we've constantly been at each others side, had each others backs."

"Well, yeah, we're family." Stan shrugged. "Isn't that what family does? Help each other?"

"Well, yes, but I feel as if the two of us have grown too dependent on each other." Ford said. "It's always the two of us, together. Sometimes it almost feels like we're just two halves of the same whole. Like we're not individuals, and we never have been. People look at the two of us and just see us as the Pines twins."

"That's because we are the Pines twins." Stan joked, clearly not understanding what Ford was getting at.

"But we're more than just that." Ford insisted. "We _are_ individuals, we just haven't had the chance to grow as such, because we've always had each other. Wherever one of us went, the other went too."

"Is that really a bad thing?" Stan asked.

"Not necessarily." Ford said. "But if we continue to lean on each other for the rest of our lives, we'll never grow as individual people." Ford looked over at his brother. "Now do you understand why I need to leave? Why I need some space from you?"

"...Eh, not really?" Stan admitted. Ford sighed. He should have known that he wouldn't be able to figure out how to explain how he felt in a way that Stanley would understand.

"But you don't hate me, right?" Stan asked, and Ford had to smile slightly at that. At least Stanley understood that much.

"Of course not. I could never hate you." Ford said. Stanley smiled in relief, which caused Ford to feel a slight pang of guilt. Had he honestly done something that had made Stanley believe that he could ever hate him? Sure, the two of them had been growing increasingly distant since they had started high school and Ford began to focus more and more on his studies, but he had never thought that it had gotten to such a point that Stan might think that he hated him.

Not knowing what else to say, Ford simply sat there, his head towards the sky as he looked up at the numerous stars. Ford always felt a calming presence whenever he looked at the night sky. It reminded him of the vastness of the universe, of all the mysteries that had yet to be solved. Questions that were just waiting to be answered. It was always exciting and humbling to Ford, to think about everything that he still had to learn, about everything.

Beside him, Stanley was sitting silently, his eyes closed. Anyone else would think that Stanley was being uncharacteristically quiet and serene, but not Ford. He knew what his brother was doing. He was simply listening to the sound of the ocean.

Stanley had always had a fascination with the ocean, which was why he loved spending time at the beach. Especially when nobody else was around. Ford knew that the sound of the waves in the ocean stirred up excitement and anticipation within Stanley. The ocean held the promise of adventure, and Ford knew that Stanley dreamed of someday sailing away and leaving this small town behind him, never to look back. To Ford, that dream had only ever been just a childhood fantasy. To Stan though, it had always been a dream that he was determined to someday make a reality.

Ford suddenly realized that, with all of the supplies that Stanley had brought onto the boat, he might be planning on fulfilling that dream sooner than Ford had ever thought he would.

"Uh, Stanley, were you planning on going somewhere?" Ford asked as he actually looked at just what all the stuff that was on the boat was. There was a decent amount of food, the kind that wouldn't go bad any time soon. Ford noticed a pile of books at the edge that Stanley must have 'borrowed' from the library, and had no intention of ever returning. The books were of various topics ranging from sailing tips, to basic survival skills, to treasure hunting. There was a lot of other stuff on the boat, though Ford was quite relieved when he saw that Stanley at least had the foresight to bring a good amount of drinking water. All in all, it looked like Stanley was prepared to sail away.

Stan had the decency to look somewhat ashamed of himself. "Yeah, I kinda was." He admitted as he stared out to the ocean.

"Hmm. And when, exactly, were you planning on leaving?" Ford crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.

Stanley shrugged as if he hadn't had a specific time in mind, but still said "As soon as the tide comes in."

Ford felt his blood run cold. That certainly explained why Stan had brought the boat so close to the shore. He wasn't worried about it being swept away by the tide because that was what he _wanted_. High tide was only in a few short hours, and Ford shuddered to think of what would have happened if he hadn't come looking for Stanley. Would Stan just have left anyways, without anybody's knowledge about it? Ford liked to think that he wouldn't have, but he had a terrible suspicion that that was exactly what Stan would have done.

"You weren't honestly going to love without saying goodbye first, were you?" Ford asked. The silence that he got in response chilled him. Ford looked at his brother with wide eyes. "Stanley!"

"What? You were going to do the same thing!" Stan said defensively. Ford was taken aback.

"I-i wasn't." Ford protested, though he was all too aware that he very nearly had. It wasn't that he had wanted to leave without saying goodbye to Stanley first. But Stan had been avoiding him, and Ford hadn't wanted to force his brother to talk to him if he wasn't ready for it. So, he had waited for Stanley to come to him.

Only now did Ford know that Stanley had been waiting for _Ford_ to come to _him._ Usually, Stanley would have no problem with confronting Ford directly, but after reading his journal/diary, Stan must have thought that Ford didn't want to see him at all, and wouldn't want to cause any trouble by making Ford feel even more suffocated.

Ford sighed in frustration and ran a hand through his hair. The two of them really were idiots. In trying to give each other space, they had almost lost each other, possibly forever. Talk about cruel irony. Ford was glad that he had decided to come look for Stanley himself, before his brother went sailing off to god only knows where.

"Are you sure that this whole sailing off thing is a good idea?" Ford asked in a tone that made it clear that he did _not_ think that this was a good idea at all. In fact, Ford believed that this was one of the most reckless and idiotic ideas that Stan had ever had, and that was saying something.

"'Course I'm sure." Stan scowled and glared at Ford, just daring him to argue. "What? You think it's not?"

' _I know it's not!'_ Ford thought frantically, though he didn't say it out loud because he didn't want to provoke his brother. Out loud he said "Maybe just not yet. You could always wait a year or two and-"

"No." Stan said forcefully. His expression darkened. "I'm not staying here."

Ford blinked. He hadn't expected this reaction from his brother. "Is there any particular reason why, or are you just being impatient?"

"I-i can't stay in this town anymore, Ford." Stan clenched his fists. He chuckled darkly. "What would I even do with myself if I stayed here?"

' _What would you do with yourself if you left?'_ Ford thought to himself. "You could always get a job, save up some money for a bit. Learn how to be more independent without being entirely on your own. There are a lot of things you could do here."

"A job." Stan scoffed. "As what? The person who scrapes the barnacles off that salt water taffy shore on the dock? I don't think so." Stan stood up and leaned against the ship's mast. "I'm not going to stay in this town and just prove that I really am the nobody that everybody here thinks I am."

Ford stood up and put his hand on Stan's shoulder. "Anybody who says that is wrong." He said firmly. Stan just rolled his eyes and shrugged Ford's hand off his shoulder, as if he wasn't so sure that Ford was the one that was right. "You can prove to them that they're wrong."

"Not if I stay here." Stan said dejectedly. Ford didn't argue against him because he thought that he understood what Stanley's desperation to get out of this town was about. An interesting thing about human beings was that if they were told something enough, they would eventually begin to believe it.

This was probably precisely what Stan was afraid of. That if he stayed in this town for too long, he would soon begin believing what everybody said about him. And if Stan thought he was a nobody, he wouldn't ever bother to make more of himself, because he wouldn't see any point in it.

If getting out of this town was the only way that Stan felt he could make something of himself, than, as much as Ford hated it, he wouldn't try to stop him. Stanley was _not_ a nobody, and if sailing off on the Stan o'war was the only way that Stan would be able to prove that to himself, then so be it.

"Just...promise me that you'll be careful out there." Ford said. Stan looked over at him in shock.

"You-you're going to let me go?" Stan asked.

"I'm certainly not going to try to stop you." Ford said. "Even if I wanted to, I doubt I'd be able to. You always were able to physically overpower me."

"Anybody could physically overpower you." Stan joked. Ford chuckled at his twin's playful banter.

Stan looked out to the ocean. "I know that it won't exactly be easy, and I don't really have a plan. But I still have to try, or else I'll never get anywhere, you know?"

"Believe me, I know." Ford said. There was still an uneasy feeling in his chest at the thought of Stanley just sailing off and living his life without having a definite plan in mind. But if anybody could make it, Stanley could.

A big reason why Ford didn't want Stanley to go off like this was because there were a lot of things that could happen to somebody out there in the world. Especially if they were living on their own. And, since Stanley wouldn't have any actual place of residence, Ford wouldn't have any way to contact him, to be sure that he was alright. Which meant that any communication between the two of them would have to be on Stan's part.

"You had better call and write me often." Ford said as he ripped out an empty page from his diary/journal, wrote his contact information on it, and gave the paper to his brother.

Stan looked at the paper which included the address to where Ford would be staying and the dorm's phone number. "Don't worry, I'll call." Stan pocketed the information.

"You had better." Ford said sternly. "I swear, Stanley, if there is ever a two week period in which I don't hear from you, I will go searching for you." Ford was being completely serious, and Stanley knew it.

"Hey, I said I would call, didn't I? Don't worry so much." Stan said. Ford shook his head. 'Don't worry' he said. That just wasn't going to happen.

Stanford sighed and, once again, looked out to the ocean. He was distressed to notice that the tide seemed to be significantly higher than it had been when he had got here. It wouldn't be too long until it was high tide, and Stan would be gone.

Not quite ready for his brother to leave yet, Ford came up with an idea. "You know, Stanley, I don't believe we ever actually took the Stan o'war out into the ocean."

Stan thought for a minute. "No, I guess not." He said. They had brought the ship into the water before, but not far enough or for long enough time for it to have actually been considered a test.

"Don't you think we should test it, to be sure that the boat is seaworthy?" Ford asked. Stan looked at Ford curiously.

"You mean...you want to take her out for a test run?" Stan asked, his eyes glistening with excitement at the idea. Ford smiled.

"That is exactly what I want." He said. Stan beamed at him.

Together the two of them pushed the Stan o'war out into the water. It took some effort, and they both got soaking wet in the process, but eventually they were able to get the boat far enough into the water that it didn't drag against the sand at the bottom. With some difficulty Stan climbed back into the boat and then helped Ford out of the water.

Ford shivered. The gentle ocean breeze against his wet clothes felt freezing. Stan didn't seem bothered by the cold at all. He seemed to be ecstatic about this whole thing, and nothing would be able to dampen his mood.

Stan and Ford wasted the next few hours away, enjoying each other's company. They sailed around a bit, though never went far. They always made sure to keep the shores of Glass Shard Beach in their sights.

They spent a decent amount of time lying on the deck looking at the stars. Ford would point out the constellations to Stan, and explain to him the stories and lore behind each and every one of them. Stan never got bored of the stories, he even asked questions about them.

In what seemed to be no time at all the stars began to fade as the sky brightened by the coming morning. Standing on the deck of their ship, Stan and Ford watched in silence as the sky seemed to explode with color and the sun rose over the ocean.

The two of them watched the sunrise for a bit before heading back to shore in silence. Neither of them was looking forward to returning to land. Their night together was over. It was morning, and very soon Ford would be heading off to West Coast Tech while Stan would be sailing off to find his own adventure, fulfill his own dreams.

When they reached the shore, the two brothers turned to each other. Ford cleared his throat. "Well, I guess this is it."

Stan rubbed his arm uncomfortably. "I guess so." He frowned.

"Hey, don't be like that. It's not like it'll be for forever." Ford said. He decided to voice an idea that had been stirring in his head all night. "You know, in a few years I will be finished with school and will be able to begin my own research."

"Yeah, so?" Stan asked. "Oh, and I still don't get why you're going to more school just to learn how to learn more stuff."

Ford chuckled. "That's just what scientists do. Anyways, I'm not quite positive as to what I will be researching yet, but I am leaning more towards anomalies. You know, trying to find an explanation for the unexplainable."

"Again, so?" Stan asked, wondering where on earth Ford was going with this.

"So, anomalies can be quite dangerous you know." Ford said, a grin sneaking onto his face. "It wouldn't be very wise to try to deal with all of that danger by myself." Ford looked at Stan meaningfully.

Stan's eyes widened. "Wait a second. You want me to help you?!"

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Ford said. "The two of us make a pretty good team." Ford held up his hand and grinned at Stanley. "High six?"

Stan grinned right back at him, though Ford was alarmed to see tears in his eyes. "High six." Stan put his own hand against Ford's. After holding this position for a moment Stan moved forward suddenly and wrapped his arms around Ford, embracing him in a hug. Ford was caught off guard, but he soon returned the embrace.

"I'm gonna miss you while you're at that stupid nerd school of yours." Stan said, his voice cracking slightly with emotion.

"I'll miss you too, you knucklehead." Ford laughed slightly at how very emotional Stanley was being.

"Shut up, Poindexter." Stan ended the embrace and wiped away any traces of tears with his arm.

Ford hopped off the boat and turned back to Stan. "You sure you don't want to come home for a bit before leaving."

"I'm sure." Stan began to adjust the sail a bit. "You'll explain things to Ma if she asks?"

"Of course." Ford said. "You had better make sure to call her every once and awhile. And don't forget to call me too." Ford held up two of his fingers to remind Stanley about the two week deadline.

"Wouldn't dream of it." Stan said. "I'll see you later, Sixer." Stan began to head back into the ocean again. Ford stood at the shore for a few minutes, watching as Stan began to sail off to make a new life for himself.

"See you later, Stanley." Ford said to himself before turning around and making his way home.


End file.
